On January 8, 2024, Beijing time, the first round of the main draw of the 2024 WTA 250 Hobart station began, and Zhu Lin, the No. 3 seed of the tournament, defeated Italy's Bronzetti in straight sets 7-5/6-1 to advance to the round of 16. At the same time, the Australian Open Grand Slam seeded players were confirmed, and Zhu Lin was listed as the No. 29 seed, which can be described as a double happiness.
Zhu Lin chose the WTA 500 Brisbane as her first event in the new season, and after a bye in the first round, she staged a comeback in the second round to defeat American Collins 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(7). In the 1/8 finals, facing the world's No. 2 Sabalenka, Zhu Lin suffered a big rout when she broke the opponent's first service game to take a 1-0 lead, lost 12 games in a row, swallowed invisible double yolk eggs, and missed the top 8.
After the loss in Brisbane, Zhu Lin participated in the WTA 250 Hobart non-stop. The WTA 250 Hobart is less competitive, with no top players pressing. Mertens is the top seed, Navarro is the second seed, Zhu Lin and Wang Xinyu are the third and fourth seeds, and teenager Yuan Yue defeated Podolska 4-6, 6-4 7-6(2) in the qualifying round.
This week, the latest world rankings were released, and many Chinese golden flowers improved their rankings, Zheng Qinwen refreshed his highest ranking to No.13, and Yuan Yue also set a new high. There are a total of seven golden flowers in the top 100 this week, and they will all play in the main draw of the 2024 Australian Open. No.13 Zheng Qinwen, No.33 Zhu Lin, No.34 Wang Xinyu, No.62 Wang Xiyu, No.73 Yuan Yue, No.87 Bai Zhuoxuan, No.97 Wang Yafan.
Zhu Lin's opponent in this round is Italy's Brunzetti, ranked 56th in the world. The two sides have no previous record of fighting, and it is the first encounter. In the first set, the competition between the two sides was fierce, and I felt that Zhu Lin did not let go, the serve was not threatening, and there was no ace. Zhu Lin took the lead in serving and held serve in the first 6 games, 3-3. After that, the two sides entered a break battle, Zhu Lin broke serve three times in the 8th, 10th and 12th games, and Bronzetti broke twice in the 7th and 9th games, and finally it took 68 minutes for Zhu Lin to win the first set 7-5.
In the second set, Zhu Lin's state improved significantly, taking the lead in serving, coming up and breaking the tie, and taking a 3-0 lead. In the 6th game, Zhu Lin broke serve again and led 5-1. In the 7th game, Zhu Lin's serve won the game, Zhu Lin did not let the victory slip away and easily held serve, winning the second set 6-1 to win the whole match!
According to the list of seeded players announced today at the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen is the No. 12 seed, Zhu Lin is the No. 29 seed, and Wang Xinyu is the No. 30 seed. After Zhu Lin broke out at the Australian Open last year, reaching the round of 16 in history and creating the best Grand Slam result of her career, Zhu Lin's signing luck has not been very good, and I hope that this seeding can bring good luck to Zhu Lin and achieve good results again at the Australian Open!
Congratulations to Zhu Lin for advancing to the round of 16! Tomorrow there will be Yuan Yue vs Stephens (10:15 on January 9), Wang Xinyu vs Gaideji (15:30 on January 9), the overall lineup of this station is poor, I hope the golden flowers come on!